White Gloves and Cracked Vases: How Metaphors Help Group Workers Construct New Perspectives and Responses

Abstract

ABSTRACT The metaphor is one of the most basic mechanisms for understanding our experiences. When we construct metaphors, we use both sides of the brain, the intuitive and rational, with the potential of generating new understanding, new realities, and new behaviors. This article promotes the creation of metaphors as a way for group workers to reflect on their practice. An image of a group offers different dimensions for consideration than verbal descriptions. Metaphor-making and elaboration can be used for learning in the classroom, supervision and practice.